Song seeks to inspire Alamo upgrades

William R. Chemerka of New Jersey wrote the lyrics of “Stand With the Alamo,” a song intended to rally support for improvements in the area around the Texas shrine. He is a former high school history teacher. less

William R. Chemerka of New Jersey wrote the lyrics of “Stand With the Alamo,” a song intended to rally support for improvements in the area around the Texas shrine. He is a former high school history ... more

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Mike Boldt, a musician, retired teacher and Alamo enthusiast, composed, performed and recorded "Stand With the Alamo," a song intended to rally support for improvements in the area around the Texas shrine. Boldt, of New Jersey, is a retired special education teacher. less

Mike Boldt, a musician, retired teacher and Alamo enthusiast, composed, performed and recorded "Stand With the Alamo," a song intended to rally support for improvements in the area around the Texas shrine. ... more

Photo: Courtesy Photo /Courtesy Photo

Song seeks to inspire Alamo upgrades

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Two die-hard Alamo buffs, former teachers living in New Jersey, have created what they said may be the key to elevating the Texas shrine to its full potential: a catchy new theme song.

In the wake of metal rock idol Ozzy Osbourne’s conciliatory visit last week to the mission and battle site downtown, Alamo advocates William R. Chemerka and Mike Boldt are promoting their song, “Stand With the Alamo,” to rally support for upgrades to the area.

Both are members of the Alamo Society, a group of about 500 Alamophiles in the United States and 10 foreign nations, some gathering here each year for the anniversary of the battle on March 6, 1836.

“I always feel there’s a karma to things. They happen when they’re supposed to happen,” said Boldt, a musician and retired special ed teacher in Weehawken, New Jersey.

Boldt called Chemerka, who lives in nearby Barnegat, and told him about two weeks ago to “send me some lyrics” about the need to upgrade Alamo Plaza, to provide more reverence and a moving historical experience.

“He got the words to me in an email within 10 minutes,” said Boldt, who recorded a CD of songs about the Alamo, “Victory or Death,” in 2012.

Boldt said it took him two days to compose, perform and record a song to complement Chemerka’s lyrics in his studio, which he calls “Alamo North.”

Many Alamo songs have been written, most notably “Remember the Alamo,” by Jane Bowers, and “Ballad of the Alamo,” by Paul Francis Webster and Dimitri Tiomkin. This new one may be the first to address today’s Alamo area. It suggests the shrine is “surrounded by decay.”

“It’s time to bring back all the long lost beauty; And a sense of history,” the lyrics declare, echoing sentiments of local and state officials now leading an effort to refurbish the state-owned Alamo complex and improve the surrounding area.

“We’ve got to do something to save that place” from mediocrity and commercialization, Boldt said. “Music tends to galvanize people.”

Also engaged in the plan is the nonprofit Alamo Endowment, which has projected up to $300 million may be needed to return the area to its full glory, with new pavement, pedestrian access, public art, a museum and partial reconstruction of the 1836 mission-fortress compound. Famed musician Phil Collins has donated $15 million in artifacts to advance a bigger vision for the Alamo.

Chemerka, who founded the Alamo Society in 1986, said he copyrighted the song but will permit its open Internet use to aid the cause. He said he would like to see it recorded by a major country artist, to become a fundraising theme song. Members of his group created a video with the song on YouTube.

“It’s just another effort in an overall campaign to do what’s right,” Chemerka said. “Why not restore Alamo Plaza with a song?”